Hawaiian Reinvention
by Morganperidot
Summary: Renee Walker meets Steve McGarrett in Hawaii.


Hawaiian Reinvention

By Morganperidot

1: The Meeting

Renee Walker reclined on a chair on the beach. She wore a blue top and beige Capri pants, and her long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail. It was late in the day, and the stars and moon were visible in the dark sky; it was still warm, because in Hawaii it stayed that way long after sunset.

Renee sipped her mai tai and looked out across the barren sand of the beach to the waves that fell softly against the shore. The place was very still, very quiet – too quiet, because there was no one else around. She was on a private beach in a private compound in a sparsely populated area on one of the less popular islands, being protected from those who would try to kill her if they knew she was still alive.

Her cell phone rang, and for a brief moment Renee hoped it was Jack. But that hope only lasted a few seconds, because she knew Jack Bauer wasn't going to be calling her any time soon, if ever. He had made it clear that he thought it was safer for her if they didn't have any contact, in case someone who was after either one of them somehow found out where she was through that contact. Instead he had set things up with an old friend of his in Hawaii, a cop named Steve McGarrett, and had told her that she could trust this man with her life.

Renee had gone along with what McGarrett had set up for her, but she hadn't heard much from him in the week she had been there – and she had yet to meet him face-to-face. All she knew from Jack was that he was a former Navy Seal and the head of some elite Hawaiian task force. She doubted he would be of any interest to her once she did meet him, an event that was scheduled to happen that day.

She answered the phone. "Agent Walker, Lieutenant Commander McGarrett is here," one of her bodyguards said on the other end of the line.

Renee sighed and rose to go back into the house. When she turned she saw a man standing inside – a man she might have been mistaken for one of her fleet of bodyguards if Jack hadn't insisted for her protection that she learn who each one would be. This stranger was tall and sturdily built like the others but something about how he stood set him apart. When Renee got closer to him, she was surprised to find that he was also good-looking; for some reason she hadn't expected that. His gaze was steady; he was clearly entirely present in the moment. He wore a white shirt and jeans that fit his form well.

He held out his hand. "Agent Walker, I'm Steve McGarrett," he said.

"Renee," she said, grasping his hand firmly.

"Call me Steve," he said, holding her hand for a moment before releasing it. "I'm sorry it took me so long to welcome you to the islands personally," he added.

"I understand from Jack that you're a busy man," Renee said. "I don't intend to take up much of your time." She sat down on an immaculate white sofa in the middle of the tastefully decorated room. "I know Jack just dumped me on you at the last minute," she said. "And knowing him, he probably twisted your arm somehow to get you to do it…"

"He didn't have to twist my arm," Steve said. "Jack and I go way back."

"And," Renee said, "you owed him for something, right?"

Steve walked over and sat on the other end of the sofa. "Jack asked me for help," he said. "I knew he wouldn't do that unless it was important."

Renee could see that he was being straight with her, but she had frustration she needed to vent. "Right," she said. "I'm so important that he sticks me out in the boonies so he doesn't ever have to see or talk to me again."

"Look," Steve said. "I understand that this is difficult." His tone was soft without being condescending, and that helped to deflate Renee's irritation – a bit. "But you should know that Jack pulled every string he had to fake your death and get you somewhere safe."

"Including your string," Renee said. Both of them were silent for a moment. Then she said, "He has something on you, doesn't he, something that the military hero doesn't want out in the open? That's it, isn't it?"

Steve said nothing, just stood up and went to a nearby table. He picked up an envelope and walked back over to her. "Jack wanted me to give you this," he said, holding it out to her. All the friendliness had drained out of him. Renee took the envelope. "If you need anything, let one of the men know," Steve said. Then he turned and walked away.

1: The Letter

Renee got under the covers on the bed with just the lamp on the nightstand illuminating the room. After propping the pillow against the headboard she leaned back against it and looked at the envelope. It had her name on it and was sealed. She held it in her hands for a couple minutes, just looking at it. She thought about the last time she had seen Jack, at the abandoned airfield where she had boarded the plane that brought her to Hawaii. There had been a watery tenderness in his eyes, something she knew he rarely showed to anyone. There had been few words between them; most of their last moments together had been taken up with a long hug and a kiss. As they had parted – her toward the plane and him toward whatever danger was on the horizon, he said, "Be safe." Renee had stood there for a few seconds looking at him before saying, "You too."

And that was it. Despite the physical intimacy and passion they had shared – and the emotional connection – there were no last-minute romantic confessions of love. Neither of them had ever spoken the word, and Renee doubted that Jack had ever considered it a possibility. He had loved his late wife Teri and probably his former girlfriend Audrey, but that was where Jack Bauer's feelings died. Whatever they had shared was little more than friendship and physical need. When he had acted to save and protect her after that sniper shot her through the window, he had done so out of duty and honor, the same as he would have done for any other friend or colleague. For McGarrett to imply otherwise was a lie or his own misunderstanding. She had never been anything special to Jack.

Renee tore open the envelope and took out the single sheet of paper inside. She unfolded it to reveal of few lines written in Jack's handwriting. For a moment she couldn't focus her eyes on the words; it felt like she had received a message from beyond the grave. But Jack wasn't dead, she told herself, just – elsewhere. She sighed and brought the page closer to her face so she could read it.

Renee,

I hope you're safe and stay that way. At some point you'll be happy again. I wanted more for us, but it's enough that you are alive. Take care of yourself. Listen to Steve – he's a good man. You can trust him. I wish we had more time.

Jack

Renee read through the short message three times, and didn't realize she was crying until a teardrop fell on the page. She wiped it away and then used her palms to dry the streaks on her face. Damn you, Jack, she thought, and damn the people who wanted her dead. Damn the entire universe for that matter. She felt angry, hurt, and sick to her stomach all at the same time. She reached over to grab her cell phone, which was on the nightstand. She wanted to call him, fix this somehow, but she knew now that he would never take her call. She threw the phone on the floor and tossed the note beside it. Then she shut off the light and curled up on the bed feeling completely and utterly alone.

2: The Stakeout

"Earth to Steve, come in Steve," Danny said.

Steve looked at him. "What?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's what I'd like to know," Danny said. "You drag me here for this ridiculous stakeout when I could be home in bed, and then you space out for like fifteen minutes…"

"That isn't true…"

"Yeah, well then you did a pretty good impression of spacing out for fifteen minutes," Danny said. Steve looked back at the windshield. "What's wrong with you?" Danny asked.

"Nothing," Steve said.

"What is this, high school?" Danny said. "Tell me what's going on. That's obviously why you wanted me here, because this guy sure isn't leaving his nice, cozy bed."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Steve said.

"Holy crap, it's about a woman, isn't it?" Danny said. "You're flipping out because you met a new woman."

"She isn't a woman," Steve said.

"Excuse me, but what?" Danny said.

"I mean it isn't like that," Steve said. "She's with a friend of mine."

"And you have the hots for her," Danny said. "You dog."

"I don't have the hots for her," Steve said.

"Yeah, right," Danny said. "Look at me and say that."

Steve looked at him. "It really isn't like that," he said. "I'm just helping out a friend. That's all. It involves protecting this woman…"

"Who you have the hots for," Danny said.

"No," Steve said.

"Then say it," Danny said.

"Say what?" Steve said, regretting he had called his friend and partner Detective Danny Williams to help him with a stakeout for a local cold case.

"Say you don't have the hots for her," Danny said.

"Fine," Steve said. "I don't have the hots for her."

"You are so lying," Danny said.

Steve rolled his eyes. "That isn't why we're here," he said.

"Right," Danny said. "We're here because this guy who may be a murderer from twenty years ago might go out for some coffee at 3 am and stab someone in a nearby diner. That's much more logical." He drummed his fingers on the passenger side door for a few seconds, and then looked back at Steve. "Seriously?" he said. "This is really how you're going to play this? Because I can walk home from here."

Steve sighed and leaned back against the car seat. He wasn't sure what he had wanted to say, but it was lodged deep in his throat now. He knew he didn't want to talk about Renee or how he felt from the first moment he laid eyes on her, that physical and chemical reaction like he hadn't felt in a long time. But what she had said to him – about him – had only reinforced the fact that they had no more connection than host and friend of a friend.

"OK, now you're back to spacing out," Danny said. "Either talk to me or take me home, OK?"

"OK," Steve said, and he drove Danny home.

2: The Apology

The next day Five-0 caught a high-profile murder case that consumed most of Steve's time. Renee Walker didn't enter his thoughts again until a few days later when he got a call from one of the men on her detail that she wanted to speak with him. Steve agreed to go to her rather than risk an intercepted phone call. And that he _was_ doing for Jack, because after the way their first meeting went down he didn't think it was such a good idea for them to have another one.

As Steve headed to the safe house, he thought about Jack Bauer. They had met several years ago in Baghdad, a random, fortuitous situation that led to a friendship that had served both of the well over the years – both professionally and on occasion as drinking buddies in war-torn lands. Jack had saved his life once, but Steve had come to his aid often enough to balance that debt. He didn't feel like he owed Jack in that way, as an obligation to be filled. Jack was his friend, and he had asked for a favor that was important for him; that was why Steve had agreed. He didn't appreciate having his integrity questioned by the object of that favor.

Inside the compound, Steve parked his car next to the house. He didn't appreciate being summoned either. He had reached the point in his career when he only accepted personal appearance requests from those at the very top. If this woman thought he was going to be at her disposal whenever she snapped her fingers, she was wrong.

Steve nodded to the men guarding the house as he walked past. He wondered if Renee understood how much time, manpower, and expense was being put into her protection – or whether she would even care if she did.

He found her in the room by the beach again, looking better than she should have in a plain green shirt and jeans with that long red hair once again pulled back in a ponytail. She had been sitting on the sofa looking at magazine when he came in, but she set it down and stood when she saw him. "Thank you for coming," she said.

"Is there something you need?" Steve asked quietly.

His tone and demeanor reminded Renee so much of Jack, that for a moment her heart ached. She could see why the two men had been friends. "I wanted to apologize," Renee said. "I was out of line the other day…"

"Yes, you were," Steve said, but he could see that she was being genuine, and he regretted the comment almost immediately.

"The circumstances of our first meeting…"

"It's not really important," Steve said, eager to end this discussion and go. He had other things to do, things that really were important…

"It is to me," Renee said. "Jack doesn't trust people easily, and if he trusted you with – something that was important to him – then there has to be something special about you."

Steve glanced away and didn't respond. He was feeling awkward, and he didn't like it. Finally he said, "If that's all…"

"Actually, it's not," Renee said, silently pleased to see the look of surprise on Steve's face before he quickly covered it with one of his stoic expressions. So she threw him another curveball: "I want to join Five-0," she said.


End file.
